All-Star Anticipation

As you know, the Carolina Hurricanes were recently awarded the NHL All-Star weekend for 2011. A logo has not yet been released. In anticipation of that, a lot of artists have been sending in all-star concepts so I wanted to share some of those tonight.

---

Tyler Rodgers	Tyler has created the most original/complete logo and uniform set for the 2011 All-Star Game. Something like this could very well be the logo. Despite its similarity to the 2009 game in Montreal, it does what most all-star logos do. It takes elements of the host team's logo and combines it with stars. The uniform designs are also surprisingly feasible. I would not be at all surprised to see something like this when the official logos and jerseys are unveiled. Is it the most creative all-star set we've ever seen? At the risk of offending Tyler, no. But to his credit, it is very realistic.
Ezra Brouwer	Ezra sends in this uniform set, a fitting follow-up to the 2009 all-star jerseys. Not bad, but maybe a little too heavy-handed with the stars.
Matt Marczel	Matt's submission is pretty sharp. Great use of stars and striping. Only odd thing I noticed was the use of Avalanche jersey numbers. Seems a little out of place. But overall, very nice jerseys.
Tony Galiffo	This last concept logo isn't about the 2011 All-Star Game, obviously. Instead, it's Tony's suggestion for a 2012 edition of the Winter Classic in Ohio featuring the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's even set up a Facebook page to promote his cause. Feel free to join him if you support it too.

Got some really excellent concepts on the way. Heading to the Northeast for those so check back soon.

Strauss NHL Rebrand IX

The NHL Rebrand series by Elliott Strauss is starting to wind down. This week he tackles the Devils, Wild and Predators. His own comments are in bold text.

---

Elliott Strauss	I thought that the old mustard alternate crest had potential to make an interesting primary logo, so I just cleaned it up. A simplified version of the current primary remains as a secondary. I came up with a custom font for the wordmark and numbers, and I'm happy with the way the numbers look on the jerseys. The color scheme keeps navy and silver but adds an icy blue-gray in the place of yellow. The home jersey color of "steel blue" would make a unique addition to the NHL. The alternate slightly modifies the home/away template. A strong entry here, to be sure. Personally, I never realized what a great logo the Predators' had on that old alternate until Elliott did some work to it. Certainly looks more like a hockey logo now. And overall, this is a really sharp uniform set. I'd by that home jersey in a heartbeat.
Elliott Strauss	I dropped the two-tone gold thing they have going, the darker yellow is gone, and wheat takes its place. Other than that, the logos stay the same, this is one of my favorite primaries of all time, so I got rid of the circle thing on the primary crest to focus on the awesomeness of this logo. Pretty simple uniforms. No white in the homes, but I think the small amount of wheat really makes the red stand out. Then green has a prominent role in the roads as well. The alternate simplifies things even further. I do like how these uniforms turned out. Great to see that primary logo back on the front of a green jersey. That's where it belongs. Only thing I don't like about this set is the alternate uniform. I understand what Elliott was going for but the style of that wordmark clashes with the simplicity of the sweater. At least the team got that right for real with the new thirds this year.
Elliott Strauss	I love what they wear now, but I wanted to try a modernization. I actually made the home jersey black, which is new, and then tried some devil-horn striping. I had to keep a lot of red, so the alternate brings back the red base, with a different take on a modern devil-horn stripe. The striping on these jerseys is just flat-out cool. The shift back to classic style uniforms means we probably won't get to see anything like this in the NHL for another 15 to 20 years. I also like the secondary logo, borrowed from the AHL's Lowell Devils, but disappointed it didn't make an appearance on the uniforms, not even the shoulders of the alternate. And if I'm being completely honest in my review, I'm also disappointed that we didn't get a modernization of the logo along with the updated jerseys. The Devils' logo is very clearly a product of the early '80s. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it seems out of place on the "futuristic" jersey designs. However I do like the re-coloring on the home sweater.

One more edition of Elliott's NHL rebrands to come. And by process of elimination, I'm sure you've figured out that the Rangers, Canucks and Blue Jackets are on deck. Spoiler alert: Rangers get the best rebrand!

Carolina In My Mind

So much concept art coming in and so much of it is so good. I'm working on adding new posts every chance I get this week to share as much as possible. You guys deserve it for all the awesome work you send in.

Today our focus is North Carolina. The Hurricanes were just awarded the 2011 NHL All-Star Game last week. While we wait for the official logos and uniforms to be designed and unveiled, I thought we take a look at some fan concepts.

---

Ryan Haslett	Ryan put together this logo and uniform set. The jerseys borrow elements from the 2008 game in Atlanta. And the logo works in elements of the host team's logo — a common technique in all-star logos. A little vanilla perhaps, but at least he took the time to put something together.
Michael Lapsley	Michael went another direction by essentially turning the Canes' own uniforms into all-star uniforms. Notice the stars inside the storm flags that line the base of the sweaters. He also used the official conference logos, similar to the 2007 jerseys worn when Dallas hosted.
Matt Marczel	Matt went in yet another direction by opting for throwback all-star jerseys — from the days when the league was split into the Clarence Campbell and Prince of Wales Conferences. All-star uniforms were just simpler in those days, weren't they? Oh well.
Pete Hurdle	We'll wrap up with Carolina's soon-to-be relocated AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers — who begin play in North Carolina in 2010-11. Pete put these jersey designs together. He's got a black one with the recolored logo and a white one with an ECHL throwback logo. Can't believe somebody at some point thought that was a good idea. We need to do a tournament of vintage minor league logos just for the visual travesties.

Can't get enough Hurricanes concepts? Check out Johnny's Totally 80s redesign over at PuckDrawn last year.

Should have more concepts up this week, including a few based off of our JerseyWatch 2010 updates. Plus, Winnipeg Jets concepts have been flooding the inbox lately. You guys hoping for the Coyotes to return home?

Update on Wednesday · Apr 14 · 2010 | 7:25 AM PDT by Chris

Connor Hanley

After this was posted, Connor was inspired to create another set of throwback-type all-star uniforms. This is his Edge-ified update to the sweaters worn first in the 1969 game. It's really not a bad look.

If you've got any all-star concepts to send in, it's not too late. I'd love to share them.